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politics
Sweden became a member of the [[European Union]] (EU) in 1995. In September 2003 Sweden held a referendum on entering the European Monetary Union. The Swedish people rejected participation, with 56% voting against and 42% for. All parliamentary parties pledged to respect the outcome of the referendum. No new referendum is planned for the foreseeable future.
Sweden became a member of the [[European Union]] (EU) in 1995. In September 2003 Sweden held a referendum on entering the European Monetary Union. The Swedish people rejected participation, with 56% voting against and 42% for. All parliamentary parties pledged to respect the outcome of the referendum. No new referendum is planned for the foreseeable future.
====Politics====
The Social Democratic Party was the largest party after 1914 and alone or at the head of a coalition governed almost continuously from 1932 to 1976. From 1946 to 1969 Tage Fritjof Erlander was party leader and prime minister; was the architect of Sweden's social welfare state. He was succeeded in 1969 by Olof Palme, who was prime minister until 1976 when a non-socialist conservative coalition (Moderates, the Center Party, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats) took office. Palme headed a Social Democratic minority government from 1982. Palme was assassinated in 1986; Ingvar Carlsson then led the party until its electoral defeat in 1991 and brought it back to power at the head of a minority government in 1994. The Social Democrats are closely tied to the labor unions and 90% of Swedish workers belong to a union. In 1991 they suffered their worst defeat in half a century, but in 1994 and 1998 elections they rebounded. As in many countries, [[New Left]] and environmental (Green) forces emerged in the 1970s; in recent elections each wins 5% to 10% of the vote. The Left Party emerged from Communism and frequently joins in Social Democrat coalitions.
The Moderate Party, founded in 1904 as the Conservative Party, pushes for more privatization of state-owned businesses and in the early 1990s gained support from outside its traditional stronghold of big business. It helped form nonsocialist coalition governments from 1976 to 1981, and its leader, Carl Bildt, was Sweden's prime minister from 1991 to 1994, the first Moderate in the post since 1930. The party's support ranges between 15 and 25 percent of the vote in recent decades. The Center Party, formerly known as the Farmers' Union, or the Agrarians, represents rural and agricultural interests, and has seen its share of the vote fall steadily to below 10% as rural Sweden loses population. The People's Party (formaly the Liberal People's Party), founded in 1902, takes conservative positions. Its its roots are in the temperance movement and the nonconformist churches. It is known for pro-American and anti-Communist positions.
Sunce the 2006 elections Sweden has been governed by a center-right coalition.
===Population change===
===Population change===
Since 1930, emigration has been slight. About 15,000-30,000 people left Sweden annually after 1965. Sweden welcomed refugees and displaced persons at the end of World War II. Because of the low birth rate, immigration accounted for 45% of population growth between 1945 and 1980. By 1991, 9% of the population had been born abroad. After 1980 immigration again increased rapidly, mostly because of new refugees, reaching more than 60,000 annually by 1990. The increase stirred some anti-immigrant feeling. In 1994 there were 508,000 foreign nationals in Sweden, concentrated mainly in the larger cities. The largest groups were Finns (210,000), Yugoslavs (70,000), Iranians (48,000), Norwegians (47,000), Danes (41,000), and Turks (29,000). Aliens may vote in Swedish local elections after three years of legal residence
Since 1930, emigration has been slight. About 15,000-30,000 people left Sweden annually after 1965. Sweden welcomed refugees and displaced persons at the end of World War II. Because of the low birth rate, immigration accounted for 45% of population growth between 1945 and 1980. By 1991, 9% of the population had been born abroad. After 1980 immigration again increased rapidly, mostly because of new refugees, reaching more than 60,000 annually by 1990. The increase stirred some anti-immigrant feeling. In 1994 there were 508,000 foreign nationals in Sweden, concentrated mainly in the larger cities. The largest groups were Finns (210,000), Yugoslavs (70,000), Iranians (48,000), Norwegians (47,000), Danes (41,000), and Turks (29,000). Aliens may vote in Swedish local elections after three years of legal residence